Monday, March 10, 2014

The Library Company of Philadelphia is one of many institutions in the Delaware Valley region preparing to commemorate the 100th anniversary of World War I. Along with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, the Chemical Heritage Foundation, the College of Physicians and others, the Library Company is contributing to a digital exhibit that highlights our World War I-era resources. The project will go live on the anniversary of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand on June 28, 2014 at www.wwionline.org, and will continue to commemorate the Great War over the next four years. After spending this fall working as a digital collections intern at the Historical Society of Pennsylvania, in January I moved next door to intern with the Library Company of Philadelphia. As an intern, I have the opportunity to explore the Library Company’s World War I-related collections, and call attention to items that grab my interest. Hopefully this blog post will be one of many, as I work my way through LCP’s fascinating collections of World War I photographs and posters.

On April 2, 1917, nearly three years after World War I had broken out in Europe, President Woodrow Wilson appealed to the United States Congress to declare war on Germany. President Wilson cited two reasons for seeking a congressional declaration of war: Germany’s continued use of unrestricted submarine warfare in the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and Germany's attempt to recruit Mexico as an ally. Two days later the U.S. Senate voted to declare war, and the House gave its support on April 8.

In response to the American declaration of war, both the British and French governments sent representatives to the United States. René Viviani, the Minister of Justice and Public Information led the French Commission, which also included Marshal Joseph Joffre, “the Victor of the Marne,” Admiral Cocheprat, and Joseph Smith from the Ministry of Finance, among others. The French Commission arrived in the United States on April 24, 1917, and made their way to Washington, D.C. Over the next two weeks, the French representatives also visited Chicago, Kansas City, St. Louis, Springfield, Illinois, before arriving in Philadelphia on May 9.

On May 6, the Pittsburgh Press reported that Dario Resta, “speed king of America,” had volunteered his driving skills to act as Marshal Joffre’s chauffeur while the commission visited Philadelphia. Mayor Thomas B. Smith guided Viviani, Joffre, and guests through “lavish entertainment,” which included visits to Benjamin Franklin’s grave and the University of Pennsylvania, where Viviani and Joffre received honorary doctor of law degrees. When the commission reached the Liberty Bell, Viviani kissed the both bell and his host, Mayor Smith.

7066.Q.6: Exercise held in front of
Franklin statue. University of Penna. Marshal Joffre Phila, Pa

Over 100,000 spectators lined Philadelphia’s streets as the French Commission made its way through the city. Philadelphians formally paid their respects to the visiting French dignitaries by presenting Marshal Joffre with a sword during his five and a half hour visit.

7066.Q.15: Marshal Joffre and Katherine
Lee showing Joseph P. Widener

Although this selection of photographs captures the festive nature of the French Commission’s visit to Philadelphia, the French sought more than just displays of American enthusiasm and fraternity. In a luncheon speech, Minister Viviani emphasized:

“We are here in order to respond to earnest and solemn words which in the Hall of Independence, this morning, were spoken by representatives of various creeds, and to which your Mayor has just alluded. We are here in order to rise above even the joy of such moments: we are here in order earnestly to consult with one another concerning the gigantic task the hands of our common enemy thrust first upon us, and next upon you.”

The French had been sending their soldiers into the trenches on the Western Front for three years. For Viviani, this was a war not of territory and conquest but of liberty. To conclude his speech in Philadelphia, Viviani described the flags of the allied nations as one unified banner:

“The flag of humanity, the flag which waves so high that it can be seen by all men in the world: a flag that shines so radiant that all men on earth long to see the promises of liberty of equality and justice which its folds contain and announce, shower down on all the earth.”

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

As a visual artist, I can't say enough good things about the
Library Company. I truly believe that it is one of those institutions that has
made my life so much richer for having the opportunity to use its resources and
to be able to work with the incredible staff. I always look forward to doing
more research there.

I make artist books. These are one-of-a-kind pieces that use
antique textiles to speak to various issues that women faced in the past. My
central interest is how women were bound physically, as well as metaphorically,
throughout history (either by fashion or rules of society). Many of the issues
– like women's dissatisfaction with their own bodies – are still relevant
today.

I first learned about the Library Company in 2004 because of
its participation in the “Picturing Women” exhibition. The brainchild of art
historian Susan Shifrin, “Picturing Women” juxtaposed contemporary artwork and
historical objects to promote dialogue about representations, and
self-representations, of female identity. The Library Company was both one of
the show’s three simultaneous venues and the repository of many of the show’s
nearly 200 pieces.

As soon as I heard about it, I knew I would have to go and
see as much of the show as I could. The exhibition contained so much
information, and being able to see documents that I might not have been aware
of otherwise was invaluable to a visual artist like myself. I am still using
the notes I took at the time today.

While searching the collection, it was a delight to find
some really obscure fashion-related items, such as this poem dedicated to the
bustle, The Bustle: A Philosophical and
Moral Poem (Boston, 1845), ostensibly written by “the most extraordinary
man of the age.” Although it's been almost ten years since I read that poem, I
am excited to have the opportunity to use this information on a current project
I have just started about the fashions of bustles and crinolines.

Other pieces I create feature embroidered stories on
beds. The more I read about women’s lives
being constricted by their clothes and social mores, the more I became
interested in women’s beds. The bed played a central role in the full spectrum
of a woman’s life, from birth to death.

My most recent bed piece, H.T.W.E. [ “...his thanks was enough...” ] is
about women’s work during the Civil War. This project
began with my interest in Florence Nightingale and her hospital reform work
during the Crimean War. What she accomplished would change the way nurses and
the field of nursing would be considered from that point onward (both on the
battlefield and at home). Inspired by Nightingale, many women joined the war as
volunteers – following their husbands and brothers into the battle fields.
Others disguised themselves as men in order to partake in the action at the
front lines. It is their bed-oriented stories and experiences that fill this
folding army cot. For example, I had the pleasure of discovering and reading
Sarah Emma Edmonds’ book Nurse and Spy in
the Union Army: Comprising the Adventures and Experiences of a Woman in
Hospitals, Camps, and Battle-Fields (Hartford, 1865).

Postscript from Cornelia King, Curator of Women’s History at
the Library Company:

Please join us on Wednesday, April 9th, when Susan Shifrin
will speak at the kick-off event for the Library Company’s new Program in
Women’s History. Dr. Shifrin will speak about the “Picturing Women” project. We
are very pleased that one of Tamar Stone’s pieces will also be on display
during the event.

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The Library Company of Philadelphia

The Library Company of Philadelphia is an independent research library specializing in American history and culture from the 17th through the 19th centuries. Open to the public free of charge, the Library Company houses an extensive collection of rare books, manuscripts, broadsides, ephemera, prints, photographs, and works of art. Founded in 1731 by Benjamin Franklin, the Library Company is America's oldest cultural institution and served as the Library of Congress from the Revolutionary War to 1800. The Library Company was the largest public library in America until the Civil War.

The mission of the Library Company is to preserve, interpret, make available, and augment the valuable materials in our care. We serve a diverse constituency throughout Philadelphia and internationally, offering comprehensive reader services, an internationally renowned fellowship program, online catalogs, and regular exhibitions and public programs.